Most Italians like to prepare coffee at home, a drink that has now become part of the tradition of half the world, which in the Belpaese area is impeccably prepared. Leaving aside what may be the consequences on the health of coffee (which, if cultivated with herbicides not up to standard or in excessive quantities, could harm our health), let us focus on the composition of the coffee maker used to prepare our coffee. It is important to remember that:
The coffee maker is usually made of a metallic material, often made of aluminum. If steel objects can give off chrome and nickel (harmful to human health), aluminum can also cause serious damage to the human brain if it is capable of emitting from an object. Given that coffee has a slightly acidic pH, the risk increases. Therefore, if there are no alternatives to the aluminum coffee maker (without considering that even the plastic pods are not the best!) It would be advisable to take the coffee out of the coffee maker as soon as possible, since, if kept too long inside it, the The acidity of the food could easily trigger the damage mechanism, releasing aluminum particles in the drink. Important tricks should always be considered also with regard to the cleaning methods of the coffee maker:
in the upper part of the coffee maker, the detergent is likely to remain inside. It is therefore appropriate to clean it and rinse it in such a way as to avoid that remnants of chemical detergents can remain inside it, inevitably ending up then in the coffee that we will drink in the subsequent use. The ideal would be to completely avoid the use of detergents, since the coffee should come off even only with the exclusive use of water. Furthermore, incrustations can remain in the coffee maker which could cause the onset of bacteria and fungi. Also in this case, it is important to have a complete and effective cleaning. A video explains these circumstances in detail:
If you really don’t want to do without using a detergent, you may still prefer a natural one. However, it would be important to avoid bicarbonate or other powerful natural whiteners, again because of the risk that aluminum particles may be released. If you still want to clean your coffee maker with a bicarbonate detergent, below is a video that explains an effective method (always in Italian) as an alternative to chemical detergents to clean your coffee pot with natural ingredients:
The advice is to carry out the cleaning practice with natural detergent only and exclusively in case of real need, since (as already reported in the initial part of the article) the coffee would go away even with the simple washing of water. The real important details not to be overlooked, therefore, are: use a coffee maker composed of material that is at least polluting (better to avoid those with paints and lead components) to wash it often entirely (and internally) with simple water and to avoid prolonged storage of liquid coffee inside it.
